Children shine at Tessanne’s Your World and Mine concert

The upper floor of the International Youth Fellowship compound on Deanery Road came alive with the sound of music last Monday evening as a group of incredibly talented children, all dressed in angelic white, made their voices heard loud and strong in songs that signalled hope for the future.

At the helm of this amazing production, titled Your World and Mine, was Tessanne Chin, the “reggae rock soul singa, mama, wife, sister, vocal coach, foodie, friend” – her IG description – and on that night she was each of the children’s proud mother. Her foundation, in association with Voice Box Performing Arts and The ASHE Company, staged a two-week summer intensive for singing, focused on talented youth ages 6-18 from varying social backgrounds. The camp began on August 8 and culminated with the showcase of all they learnt on August 21.

“Believe me when I say that it was my greatest pleasure to wake up each and every morning knowing that I was coming into this space with them all. It has been an incredible and ambitious journey and tonight is a testament to what teamwork, vision and hard work can do when we believe in our youth and their talent and abilities,” Tessanne told the full house of enthusiastic relatives, friends and supporters as the curtains were about to close on a fantastic nearly two-hour performance.

Clearly passionate about securing the future of the next generation of creatives, ‘The Voice’ winner (2013) made an appeal for more opportunities for the honing of the talent that forced one guest to exclaim, “No man … dem yah pickney yah can sing sah!” From the youngest to the oldest, they executed with confidence, poise and a little bit of sass when the song demanded it, and the screams of delight from the audience spoke volumes.

During her two minutes on stage, Tessanne spoke about the dire need to “create a space for the talented and the gifted of this country” because they have the ability “to create waves beyond what we can imagine ... not just in Jamaica, but around the world”. She spoke about having a vision to hone their skills and introduce them to the next level of opportunities for scholarships to use their gifts to make a living and make a change.

“I’m feeling so incredibly proud!” a beaming Tessanne said in a post-concert interview. “And so happy it’s over,” she added with infectious laughter, embracing and complimenting the kids as they came up to her and didn’t have to be asked twice to “please come and meet my grandmother”.

“It was a lot of work and God bless the team IYF, Digicel, KFC, Tastee, Excelsior … everybody. We held two auditions in August and they added to the kids who are already part of Voice Box,” Tessanne explained.

“We wanted to do a summer programme that was free of cost because we are well aware that not everybody has the means to do the training and that is something that we would like to change. Twenty-one kids in all got through, so we had close to 30 kids. I am so excited to see that the boys did come out because it is normally really just a lot of girls who come out to sing, so the boys that we had, I am very proud of them and very happy to have them.”

Richard Chin, Tessanne’s father, was in the audience cheering the loudest for all the kids, and he was the proud grandfather when his grandson Jaxen Mitchell came up to hug him. “Look how well you did ... see, you didn’t have anything to be nervous about,” he told the youngster.

“I’m so happy that Tessanne stick to it to put on this show ... our kids are our greatest assets. We have to invest in our children … they are the future. Tessanne is doing this and building a better life for our kids and all of us are giving our time and our effort to make it right. And without God we could never have done it. God has to be the focus of everything we do because He is the one who opens doors,” Chin said in an interview.

He called over Jody and Holly Lee, parents of Julianna Lee who joined Tessanne’s Voice Box Performing Arts Academy last year. The Lees were over the moon.

“Just the whole notion of what Tessanne is doing is fantastic. It has been fantastic to watch and see Voice Box grow, to see the production. IYF has been welcoming ... it is just a wonderful opportunity for the children to grow,” Julianna’s father stated.

“Julianna has always been that singer … she saw a concert about a year ago that Tessanne had put on through Voice Box and she was mesmerised. Ever since then she has been kept nagging me ‘Mom, can I join.’ When we signed her up, one of the main things we took away is the environment that Tessanne creates for kids. It is fun … it is safe, and it is happy. Julianna has not looked back. She is extremely excited about singing ... loves Auntie Tess and is creating new friends and sings non-stop now at home. I can see this becoming huge. We have seen the difference in Julianna’s confidence and her talent,” Holly Lee shared.

The camp offered vocal coaching, choral/ensemble training and participation, solo performance development and training, musical theatre and an introduction to performing arts. The children also benefited from mentoring and life-coaching sessions.

The camp was offered free of cost to participants with the support of Digicel, Lasco Icool, Tastee Ltd, Jamaica Biscuit Company and other donor partners, including the International Youth Fellowship, AIM Online Academy and Meet the Mitchells.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com